Hammers and Objects under 6 pounds

library_guy · Post by **library_guy** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:56 pm

A year ago I showed my mom this site and she loved it. I showed her my eight pounder, but she thought it was too heavy. She has had some back pain and a knee surgery and wanted to be particularly careful. I bought a skinny plastic wiffle ball bat and filled it with sand. Then I used epoxy to seal the hole. It weighs about 2.5 pounds. She used it as her only â€œhammerâ€ for 6 months.

After six months she wanted to upgrade, but the smallest hammer we could find was 6 pounds. She didnâ€™t want to risk injury by doubling the weight of her hammer. (Besides the jump in weight, a real hammer has a different feel than a plastic bat filled with sand due to the balance factor.) The 4 pound hammers in most hardware stores are on short handles. So, I went to the hardware store, bought a 4 pounder, bought a long hickory sledge hammer handle, and asked the folks there to take the head off and put it on the long handle. They did a great job making a secure joint with the metal wedge. I further strengthened it by using epoxy. The whole thing was less than $35 including $10 labor.

My sister liked the idea of a 4 pounder so she bought a 4 pounder on a short handle for $12. She replaced the handle with a fiberglass and epoxy kit handle she bought for $15 bucks. If you go the fiberglass route, just remember to follow the directions and let the epoxy cure for the full 24 hours at room temperature.

fkwan · Post by **fkwan** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:37 pm

Is it absolutely necessary to have the long handle? I have a 6# short handled one lying around and it would be nice to save $20, but I suspect that the physics of the long handle is part of the charm.

f

library_guy · Post by **library_guy** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:22 pm

I think that the long length is crucial because it allows for proper (work-like) positioning of the hands for certain moves.

Post by **reinhard** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:52 pm

Interesting...sounds like a great solution for your mom, but would be nice to have something more ready made for mom's without such handy sons.

I'll do some poking around in "home and garden" at amazon and see if I come up with anything...

Reinhard

fkwan · Post by **fkwan** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 1:46 pm

Found what appears to be an 8-10 pound hammer. It works great except I can't figure out how to do hoist sack without killing my back, which is already moribund (bulging disc). Did my first 15 minutes yesterday. All the shoveling type movements and churns were fine.

I used the itty mallet for side laterals and standard tricep extensions.

f

library_guy · Post by **library_guy** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:03 am

It seems like there IS a source for lighter hammers with long handles after all Not sure what the shipping cost is, but the 4 pounder lists at $22.95 right now. http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/Pro ... ctid=SH468
The 2 and 3 pounders are not hardened metal.

On the other side of the spectrum is Torque Athletic. The war hammers go up to 150 lbs!!!
http://www.torqueathletic.com/ts1/produ ... rod=MA04-1